Essence of Calamity
by MelodicMadness
Summary: A spoiled boy and a tormented warrior; Two very different people, but something between them will not let one ignore the other. Within the truths and lies they share, a relationship exists that neither one of them can read. AlbelFayt. Fayt PoV
1. Prologue

**Full Summary: **A spoiled boy and a tormented warrior; Two very different people, but something between them will not let one ignore the other. Within the truths and lies they share, a relationship exists that neither one of them can read. [Parallel story to Essence of Innocence. Fayt PoV. AlbelFayt.]

**Rating: **To remain Teen.

**Disclaimer: **Star Ocean 3 and its characters belong to Tri-Ace.

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Prologue

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I once heard of him as the strongest warrior in all of Airyglyph and the commander of the Black Brigade; just the breath of his name either struck fear, hatred, or anger in his enemies and common people alike. It was difficult to tell if all of those traits really existed anymore when I first spotted Albel Nox chained away from freedom.

At first, the thought occurred to me that perhaps Woltar or King Airyglyph were just playing some sort of joke, or maybe my eyes had deceived me. Either way, I had to swallow my surprise and pay close attention to the conversation about to brew up in front of me.

Albel did not realize our arrival at that moment. Woltar had to loudly snap him out of his musings before he finally decided to glance up, but as he did, I quickly wished that we wouldn't have— through his disheveled, blonde bangs, I could gaze into his glowing orbs of blood. It was the first time I had actually made eye contact with the man, and it truly sent a jittery feeling through out my limbs, paralyzing my thoughts on the way.

With a first glance, his glare seemed to be filled with hatred, but when I call back on it, glares seem to be his only way of communicating most of his emotions, including surprise. Just as I had, though, the rest of the group became slightly tense upon being examined by Albel, and after a few more moments of glaring (or deep thought), his mouth eventually opened with shock.

Before he could pose any questions, Woltar began to explain, "I know you're dumbfounded, Albel, but the King has a proposition to make of you-,"

Interrupting, Albel questioned with, "What are they doing here?" His eyes became cat-like slits and scanned our faces back and forth, scowling when his gaze fell upon the Aquarian, Nel. Nel took it in her pleasure to return the scowl before looking away. I knew she couldn't help it, but I didn't want any of us to get on his bad side, and returning a scowl was probably one of the ways to do just that.

Sighing, Woltar closed his eyes as he continued, expecting the reaction, "Albel, the war is over, but we have a bigger threat now."

"The war… over?" His question was understandable; while in prison, he could have no communication with the outside world. He may have even conversed with the mice running about out of boredom.

"Yes, we have no time for war now," The Count replied.

"What about Vox?" The name only forced me to remember an image of a haughty man with an ego to match.

Hesitating, Woltar informed him, "Well… these people here defeated him."

"What?! You mean to tell me these Aquarian scum defeated Vox?" he exclaimed in reply. I assumed that he had probably tried to defeat Vox numerous times. His reaction made me curious to what might have occurred between him and Vox, but I sure as hell did _not_ want to ask.

"Indeed they did. Now, before you interrupt again, may I bring up the King's command?" Albel grunted as he looked to the side. Whether this was a "yes" or "no", or maybe even an "I don't care", Woltar still continued. "A new enemy has arrived from a different world, one that threatens this whole planet. If we don't stop it, we'll all be killed." I thought to myself what Albel's reply would be to that statement.

"A different world?! Do you take me for some sort of fool, old man? You must be going senile," the prisoner snapped back with ferocity as his glare become more noticeable. Well, my guess was pretty close.

Woltar sighed as he shook his head. He must be used to Albel's feisty attitude, or how else would he have the patience to explain everything? I have never actually met someone who could have so much to say after being held in conditions like these. I did not know if I should admire that spirit or fear it. "Fine, don't believe me," Woltar simply carried on, "but that does not change the fact that you will be accommodating them to subdue the Marquis."

Coincidentally, there might have just been a hole in the stone walls, but when Albel's expression became stiff and rigid, a chilly breeze twirled past my ear. Freaky.

"…The Marquis…?" he repeated steadily, more so that _he _could absorb the question rather than Woltar. This reaction also tormented my curiosity, but I had to pinion any and all questions until they mattered, if ever. My gaze fell upon him the whole time he stared down at the floor with furrowed eyebrows. Maybe that was his thinking face.

"Yes… you do not mind, do you? It _is _an order, after all."

Losing interest in Albel's silence, I turned to see the rest of the group. Maria seemed to be just as intrigued as I was, although Cliff did not even bother mustering up an ounce of curiosity in Albel. The Airyglyph soldier insulted Cliff's strength, so he was automatically on his "List of Bastards Who Need a Beating" (as he once referred to it). When Maria shifted slightly, I took it as my cue to turn back around and face Albel.

The warrior now stood up tall and laid his full gaze on Woltar and us. Had he come to a decision?

"Fine. If the King commands it." What a relief!

Woltar smiled in response to my feeling of calmness. "Well answered, Albel." He received another glare as a response, but he still trotted over to Albel to unshackle him. The cuffs slid off of Albel's abnormally thin wrists almost gracefully, not even making a small sound. As Woltar got to the other cuff, though, I froze as a scenario occurred to me:

Woltar pulled off the last cuff and backed away from Albel. A tiny glint flickered in his eye as he stretched out his claw and dashed towards the rest of us, raising the hunk of metal and slamming its sharp edges into the closest people (like me), splattering hundreds of air born, scarlet droplets in all directions, smirking sardonically the whole time.

Okay, okay, calm down, Fayt. That will not really happen. Remember, _he's just a normal person like the rest of us (_but I still found it hard trying to take my own advice).

In reality, Albel just stood there quietly as he studied the party, rubbing his gaunt wrist with his claw, which it seemed more painful to do that. His steps echoed through out the small dungeon cell as he made his way for us. Once again, that damned scenario flashed through my head and I had to block it out before I ran out of the cell screaming.

"Let's not waste any time," was his only sentence before his departure through the rickety, old door. Woltar followed, so I decided to lead the rest of the party after them. We all remained silent as we traveled back to the upper floor. It already felt strange having a former enemy on the party, but I could tell that the situation would become a hassle later on, and if not a hassle, then at least very intriguing.

End Prologue

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I'm glad to have finally gotten this up. Any and all reviews are always appreciated.


	2. Chapter 1

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Chapter 1

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That first night with Albel brought a headache along with it.

Having already been so late in the day once we finally arrived in Airyglyph, we all just decided to stay at the inn in town and leave early next morning. Well, the limited amount of rooms available created a dilemma with our plans. Three people would have to be shoved into one room and two into another. How was this a problem?

Either way, someone had to be in the same room with our irascible new party member, who, at the moment of our deciding, had just scared the timid maid into running away in tears. Why? Asking would have been stupid.

Out of everyone else, though, I minded the least about rooming with Albel for the night. Sure, I still preferred _not_ to converse with him (for I held a slight amount of contempt for his previous actions) but I at least didn't have strong feelings of hatred like Cliff and Nel did.

That left me to ask Maria on her decision. She had never met Albel previously, so it wasn't like she could say much. If he disliked her, though, then that posed as a problem. Of course, it all really came down to what he wanted. I couldn't tell if it was safe or not to choose on a decision with or without his consent. If I were to ask him what he preferred, then perhaps it would make him feel the slightest bit welcomed into the party. Cliff argued on letting him feel welcome anywhere, but let's ignore what Cliff says. He sometimes says stuff he wishes he could take back later when he's angry, anyways.

"You know, I can always room with him," I told Maria.

"Are you sure, Fayt? He seems… irritable," Maria questioned, giving a concerned glance in the direction of Albel.

"Yeah, of course. He can't be dangerous… to us, at least," I replied, correcting myself at the end.

"But…" she looked nervously at the floor. From the short time I knew her, it didn't seem like she would falter in a decision. What aura did Albel have around him? It seemed to drastically change everyone's mood _except _mine… That question would plague me the more him and I interacted.

Determined with my choice, I replied, "Yes, yes. Don't worry. It's just one night. Come on, let's go let Albel know." I trotted over to the rest of the party, with Albel standing off to the side with a grimaced look on his face. Grumpy.

"I'll room with Albel." I jumped to the point. I was extremely exhausted and just wanted to get everything decided. A night at the inn should not have been so damn difficult in the first place. And, of course, I received the looks I expected. Albel turned around abruptly to (what seemed like) glare at me before quickly navigating the hallways to our bedroom.

"Suit yourself, buddy. I'm going to catch some early Z's. I can tell this will tiring," Cliff patted me on the back before also leaving the main lobby. The last two decided to buy a few supplies before retiring for the night.

Me, I just sighed and rubbed my oncoming headache. I wasn't quite sure what to think, but sleep sounded really relaxing.

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The window was wide open when I entered the room, and there was no tall, doom-ridden warrior in sight. Running to the window, I leaned over and stuck my head out, feverishly scanning the night streets. The last thing we needed was Albel to escape from us. My eyes darted back and forth as I squinted, but the snow and fog made it impossible for me to spot even a neon sign. Wasting no time, I jumped out through the window and scratched my arm on the side. Even with my arm barely pulsing where I got injured, I ignored the cut and thought of the hundreds of places in Airyglyph Albel would go. This failed quickly… I couldn't think like him.

I fretted for a few more minutes in the cold, looking down dark alleyways. But then I stopped and thought- although he was imprisoned for a while, Albel still seemed to be devoted to his duties. Besides, he didn't seem like the type to just up and run. Still, even with these thoughts in my mind, I worried about his whereabouts. The cold began to win over me as shivers shook my entire body. I decided to just return to the room and wait.

While I walked back towards my destination, I began to question myself; why did it matter so much to me where Albel was if I _knew_ that he didn't run away? He could defend himself just fine, and he had to come back eventually during the night. Did I really find it necessary to stay awake and risk catching some rest of my own?

My thoughts ended soon after my face ran smack dab into a big piece of cold, smelly metal.

"Ouch!"

"What the hell?!"

My voice and another's responded in unison to the painful impact. I held my nose (which was probably red by then from the cold _and_ pain) and slowly glanced up to see Albel glaring at me. I soon realized that his collar was the culprit, with its large, obtrusive chains falling down onto his chest, which also ran into me.

"Watch where you're going, fool," Albel told me, continuing to glare. If his eyes weren't so bright and red, I would not have been able to see his expression so well. For no apparent reason, my brain decided to switch over to its "writing mode" and I began taking mental notes on what his eyes resembled. The color of freshly spilt blood, the petals of a young rose, the tube of red paint in my third grade classroom… "**Are you deaf?!**" I jumped from the burst of noise coming from right in front of me.

Stumbling over my words and chattering teeth, I struggled to say, "O-oh, yeah. I, er, wait, _NO! _I'm not deaf! I… There…" Stopping to breath, I resisted from slapping myself before I continued, "The real question is, where were you? I've been out for…" I paused, trying to figure out how long I was out, but then lost the guts I had to continue preaching to Albel. His stare pinned me down, as though it held me by the throat to shut me up. He didn't want me addressing him so lightly, and I could tell.

I flinched and closed my eyes when he opened his mouth to speak, fearing he might explode. Instead, he only said, "Let's head back, then."

Unexpected wasn't the right adjective, but I didn't have much time to think when he turned around and walked the other way. I tripped over a pile of snow if front of me as I wobbled with my cold limbs to catch up to the man.

Why didn't he yell at me? His voice didn't show any irritation, although I really thought I had felt it. Then again, I came back to the idea that Albel couldn't project his emotions correctly, or I just saw them from another side. Which ever it was, I soon dropped the subject when my need to be inside a warm room grew larger. I began to run after Albel, who decided to jump in through the window. I did the same, but relief didn't come, as I wanted it to. The room felt almost as cold as the air outside, thanks to the fact that the window remained wide open during my whole absence.

Unlike me, who could probably power a whole city with the amount of energy I was using to shiver, Albel remained as erect as usual, barely even making a sound when he sat down.

The air about him was sometimes graceful, but a bit eerie and non-human at the same time. Was that even possible? Every hour I was with Albel, the more questions I had to ask, and the more I wanted them answered. Either I be patient, or just forget about them all, but my personality would never let me drop the subject.

"Are you going to sleep yet? Your persistent shivering is reminding me of a worthless, little dog."

Ah, great, make me feel even more inferior. "Yes…"

I wondered if we could ever see each other on the same level, even if just as comrades. I was old enough to not want to make friends with everybody I met, but young enough to want to at least become acquaintances.

Finally curling up within the thick blankets, I fell asleep with these wishes in my mind. I anticipated the next morning, but I also feared it. Or perhaps I feared Albel.


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: To my displeasure, I do not own SO3 or its overly-lovable characters.

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Chapter 2

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Usually, _I'm_ the one up first in the morning so I could go wake everyone up, but on this particular sunrise, I didn't even want to move from my comfortable bed. In fact, I felt like someone sent my mind through warp drive—my headache was _enormous_.

My head was so full of mucus and snot that I could even barely even breathe. I thought for a few seconds and tried to figure out how I got so sick, when the memory of last night came flying at me with vivid colors. Snow, fog, cold, Albel, red eyes, grumpy-grouch…

With a great sigh, I mentally beat myself up for being so stupid. I couldn't be sick! No, not at all, especially since we had to face up with Crosell soon, and from what I heard, he's not the little, pink dragon in the Barr Mountains that danced to my flute playing. I could have _at least_ wrapped a blanket around me before going outside.

Through all of my musings, I failed to notice Albel standing right in front of my bed, watching me with one eyebrow raised higher than the other. It was an expression I didn't even know he could pull off. I nervously pulled the covers up and over my nose as I addressed him, "What is it? Why are you looking at me like that?" The blankets muffled my voice, but even more so by the stuffy nose.

He didn't speak at first, but continued to watch me. I got irritated, trying to figure out what was so interesting about me. Even though it was the first idea to occur to everyone else's mind, I thought, 'Is there something on my face?' But half of my face was covered up so I tried to figure out another reason.

Before I could think some more, Albel completely shrugged off my question and left the room. I yelled after him, sitting up quickly in bed, "Hey, wait! Answer me!" but this only made my head hurt worse and I fell back on the pillow with a loud thunk. Griping and complaining to myself, I laid for a few more minutes until I felt I could stand up. No matter how sick I was, I was the leader and had to… well, _lead._

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"Fayt, are you okay?" Maria was the first to ask when I walked out to the lobby, finding everyone sitting by around the fireplace and ready to depart. "We were going to wake you up an hour ago but you looked sick, so we decided to let you rest some more. In the meantime, we bought some more supplies," she informed me.

"Y-yeah… I'm fine," I lied as I tried to ignore the throbbing sensation in the back of my head. I worried that I would slow down the party, but I had to put my illness aside and focus on our duty. The whole world of Elicoor II depended on us, and my weakness wasn't about to disappointment them.

I soon found my eyes examining the room for Albel, aware of his absence. I shouldn't have even cared as much as I did, but I asked anyway, "Where did Albel go?"

Cliff, in his usual reply, made a disgruntled cough in the mentioning of Albel. He had to stop doing that every time someone mentioned Albel, whether it was for his sake or Albel's.

"He's just outside the door waiting for us," Nel spoke up from her lonely spot on the couch. She hated Albel too, but at least she knew how to hide it. Continuing, she added, "Or… so we hope." She glanced over at the inn entrance.

"Don't say that! Albel wouldn't run off like that," I hurriedly said, my voice sounding angry. Why was I doing this? "He seems devoted to his country and his king. Don't treat him like a child." Even though I was the one who said it, my shocked, confused expression matched the faces of everyone else. Why did I so readily defend him like that? Nel (who's expression switched from shocked to disturbed) didn't _actually_ offend him. Regardless, I couldn't fend off the miniscule feeling of anger that motivated my words.

Maria cleared her throat loudly to pull everybody out of his or her thoughts. "We should probably get going now," she suggested. Everyone's gaze left me and relief immediately overcame me. I wanted to run over to the other blue-haired person and hug and give her a kiss on the cheek, then yell something like, " Oh, Maria, my savior! What would I have done without you?!" Obviously, I didn't (but I did start to consider making her the leader of the group…)

Instead, I looked down at the stone floor, embarrassed, and apologized quietly, "I'm sorry… I… I think I'm just really tired…" I was indeed tired, but more so of a weirdo.

Cliff merely rubbed the back of his head, thought for a second, then shrugged and left the inn. Nel sent one last glance at me, also apologizing, then followed the blond with quick, small steps. I couldn't place why Nel left so quickly… I either angered her or scared her, or both.

Setting her hand on my shoulder, my hero of the day assured me, "Don't worry. You're not weird or anything." First she could alter any item to her will, and then she could read minds? Amazing. "And if you need any breaks while traveling, just let us know. We wouldn't want you slowing us down," she added her last sentence with a smile, persuading me to smile with her. "Now, let's be on our way."

We left the inn, welcomed by a gentle snowfall, very contrary to the snowstorm last night (and I saw Albel standing nearby, proving Nel wrong.) The chilly air still stung my bare arms, but I managed to keep myself from shivering. I anticipated the arrival in Kirlsa. First of all, it was warm, and second of all, it meant that I could get more sleep. Until then, I had to focus on ignoring my unceasing headache, my cold arms, my stuffy nose, my blurry eyes, and my sore throat. I hated being sick.

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The sun finally peaked through the moody clouds once we were a few miles down the road from Airyglyph and a few hundred more feet closer to sea level. Our travels through the different terrains and roads were usually quiet in the past, but lately, we had been trying to chat a bit more to pass the time. Unfortunately, with Albel's presence, we all felt a bit too intimidated to even open our mouths.

He emitted a very dour aura, which even the most gregarious of people would fear approaching. I tried a couple of times to start a conversation, but it died too quickly to even remember. Hours passed on, though, and the silence felt heavier than ever. I had to do something to break it. I opened my mouth to speak, but mucus had gathered itself in a large lump and I ended up gurgling, before coughing, rather choking, very loudly. This made nearly everyone jump; I say nearly because I couldn't see Albel, but I felt positive that he didn't.

My coughs became worse, and I thought I heard Cliff ask if I was okay, but with all of the tremors being sent throughout my lungs, up my esophagus, and into my head, I couldn't even hear any other noise. The coughs gradually drained the small amount of energy that I had and I finally fell to my knees, gasping for breath. Nel rushed over and knelt in front of me. Finally, I could hear someone speak.

"Fayt, are you going to be okay? Maybe we should rest a bit, you guys," she suggested, sounding more like she was giving an order. I tried to tell her that I felt better and we could go on, but my voice seemed to have run away with one of my coughs and I failed to say anything. Nel unraveled her scarf from her own neck and wrapped it around my own. "Try to keep warm for now or else you'll get more sick." I nodded in thanks before sitting all the way down on the floor. The offer came along, so I took the chance to rest.

Albel, after witnessing the whole scene, walked up to me, for whatever reason unknown to me. He stood silently above me, glancing past his cheeks to get a good look at my face. The second time today he stood over, examining me.

I looked up at him, up through the disheveled bangs that framed his face, and saw another expression that I didn't think he could make—he looked worried. Once again, I told myself that I could have easily misread his expression, but I had seen that one everywhere, and it looked like worry. That left me with more than a few confused thoughts. Wouldn't he have enjoyed seeing me suffer? He _was_ a sadistic, malicious warrior, after all, correct?

As though he could sense my probing thoughts, Albel quickly looked away and walked a few steps to the side of me before taking a seat on the barely-grassy ground. The rest of the group soon joined us, though Cliff and Nel made sure to keep their distance from the quietest member of the group. Maria sat closest to me, her eyebrows still stuck together in concern.

I found it impossible to stop myself from glancing over at Albel. I studied his movements as he watched a small trail of ants travel to and from an ant hole in close distance him. Every now and then his eyes would switch to and follow a trail on the opposite side of the hole. I knew that he must have been thinking about more than just ants, but I couldn't figure out what. I wanted to know, and I wasn't going to hold back questioning him like I had been doing with all of my other questions.

My curiosity finally caught up with me, and I stood up, lead myself over to the spot that he occupied, and nervously sat down. Smiling weakly (and pathetically) I cleared my throat before asking, "What are you thinking about?" The question was blunt, and I hoped the answer, if any, would be just as blunt.

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A/N: I would like to take a minute and thank everyone and anyone who has read this far! I wasn't sure if this story would be too popular, but it's been getting some +Story Alerts, which inspired me to write up this chapter in one day. I apologize for my slow updates, but I sometimes take a while with them. I would really appreciate any reviews, especially since they motivate me to write the next chapter soon. Thank you again!

P.S.: Feel free to point out any typos/grammatical errors. They always get past me, and even some of my beta-readers.


	4. Chapter 3

I do not own any of these characters.

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Chapter 3

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Well, here I am with chapter three! I'm sorry that I take so long to get chapters up, but I hope that you're still reading! I'm trying to take the storyline at a reasonable pace, so, I hope you guys don't get bored.

Also… I don't know how, but I managed to turn an angst-fic into a humor-fic. God, I don't know what's wrong with me. I hope I can be more serious in later chapters, or maybe I can mix angst/drama _with _humor… Let's just see how this works out. Bear with me, guys.

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The question slipped past my lips, and I once again caught not just everyone else, but myself by surprise. I was being too damn gutsy, or just too damn crazy. Did insanity come with the package of a cold, or something?

Only the cold breeze replied, dancing across my numb face. Or perhaps it wasn't a breeze, but the cold personality that suddenly emerged from Albel, who had been fine and quiet for the past hour. His words were unpredictable, but those ones just dumbstruck me.

"Why the hell are you asking me that, you fool? It's none of your business, so I suggest you better not ask me that again or I'll see to it that your mouth be removed from your foolish, little head." He spoke as if he recited it for days, perfecting every single syllable with the correct amount of emotion, and using his trademark glare just to top the cake. His crimson eyes remained unmoving, and his mouth in the firmest, straightest line. As he watched me, I felt fear, but the fear dissipated into irritation.

I wanted to shout back in an equally rude reply, "Well, now. What crawled up _your_ self-righteous bum and died?" but I bit my tongue forcefully, almost to a point where it was bleeding. Angering Albel wouldn't have helped me, and it probably would have created a tight situation.

Instead, I resorted to my usual, spineless response and spoke, "Suit yourself," stood up quietly, and walked (rather, stumbled, since I got a white-flash) back the sociable part members. I did not bother to glance back at Albel, but I felt somewhat satisfied—he was expecting a different response, a much different response.

Or maybe he just felt indifferent. Either way, I decided to drop the topic for once and rested my head on my knees. The breeze inconveniently picked up, causing me to shiver like the night before, and it didn't help with turning my pathetic day into a better one.

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Thanks to my illness, we weren't able to reach Kirlsa before sunset and were forced to set up camp. I was glad that we were at least out of the freezing, cruel mountains, but I was hoping to slumber in a nice, bone-warming bed at the Kirlsa Inn, with its pleasing scent of fresh flowers and its unbearably soft pillows. I could have fallen asleep peacefully just thinking about it.

Except that God, Apris, Luther, or _whoever_ is up there, decided to laugh at my misery some more and planted storm clouds right above us-- dark, fat, juicy, evil clouds. Great, I thought. Now I'll get pneumonia and die.

But bad luck wasn't done raping my happiness. I ended up having to share a tent (that Maria luckily bought back in Airyglyph) with Albel PMSing Nox. Maria offered to share it with him, but I could see the fear and anticipation in her eyes and wouldn't let her. Damn my selflessness.

I still felt irritated with him from earlier, but my need to interact with him still tugged helplessly at my actions, and I tried, once again, to speak to him like normal people did, except I was a little far from normal, and Albel was nowhere near normal.

I hesitated when I began, but quickly asked my question, "Want, to, err… help me set up the tent?" Why did I feel nervous? I wasn't too sure, but the weather was becoming more windy and ominous, and it could have created a sense of fear in me. I just wanted to be inside the tent, since any shelter sounded comforting at the moment.

Albel momentarily glanced at me in acknowledgement of my question and walked over to the pile of unassembled tent, beginning to set it up. I took his gestures as a 'yes' and I went over to him, Nel's scarf bouncing up and down my back as I slowly walked, trying not to shiver even more in the cold. I considered buying a jacket in Kirlsa when I realized I wouldn't be returning to Airyglyph in a while, if ever.

I helped Albel set up the tent, all the while distracted thinking about the journey on Elicoor II that would soon come to an end (until we had problems with the 4D beings later, of course.) It saddened me, but the thoughts soon left my head when the tent was finally set up and I eagerly crawled in, wrapping myself in the cozy sleeping bag.

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I had to face it; I couldn't sleep. The wind and rain pounded on the thin walls of the tent, sounding angry and contemptuous, and the cold of the floor seeped into my sleeping bag from under me. What I would have given to be in Kirlsa at that moment.

Finally, about two hours later at midnight, the wind ceased and the rain turned into a gentle trickle. It was a really soothing sound, and it put my mind in slight ease. The night definitely seemed more peaceful, but there was still one last thing that was keeping me awake.

Next to me, Albel laid wide-awake, and he got just as much sleep as I did—none. Even when the unsettling noises outside stopped bothering us, he still laid perfectly still, his eyes focusing, and his eyes unmoving.

He had the strange ability to stay still for ages on end, just remaining there, not even twitching a single finger or moving every now and then into a more comfortable position. I noted his pensive expression, and I knew that he pondered about something again, just like earlier. I wanted to ask, but I might have gotten the same response, or Albel might have actually done through with what he said he would.

But, would he really? He seemed like the type of person to beat you up the second you annoyed him, and I've annoyed him… how many times, now? Well, enough to assume me as dead, yet there I was, in the same tent with him, with the same pensive expression, becoming more intrigued by his behavior each passing hour.

It was moments like those that made me realize that Albel had some humanity in him, regardless of what everyone said. And maybe it was the humanity that gave me the courage to approach him, talk to him, even just look at him. And it was that damned courage that made me ask the same question that I should have never asked earlier.

"Albel…" I quietly called out, turning my head to look at him. He replied, surprisingly enough, and finally left his 3-hour daydream to return the glance. His eyes focused on me, studying me… just as mine were focused diligently on him, effortlessly trying to figure him out. If I wanted my answers, I had to talk to him, whether he liked it or not. "What… What were you thinking about?"

It might have been a mistake, but my mind was at such ease, I couldn't even hear the small sprinkles outside rolling and dancing on and about the tent.

"I told you—"

"I know you did," I replied quickly, cutting him off before he could throw in another threat, "but, it's just… I know it sounds weird, but I want to know more about you. I don't know why, but I do. And… I just can't figure you out. It's driving me crazy." At the sentence of 'I just can't figure you out,' his piercing, red eyes increased in size for a split second, then looked away, then finally looked back up at me again before he sat up and pulled the sleeping bag up to his chin.

He stared off into space again, ignoring my presence and the freezing cold that was probably creeping up his exposed back.

Even without a reply, I had gotten a part of my answer, and I was finally satisfied, at least for that night.

Xxxx

Ack, I know, I'm sorry it's so short, but I have it updated! I hope to write more—I'm really getting into this, and I hope you guys are, too! So, Fayt and Albel are starting to finally meet each other on the same level, kind of. My other story, "Essence of Innocence", focuses on Albel thought's, which are much more deeper than Fayt's and a bit more random, so check that out, too! It's not too far into the story as this one is, but I hope to update that soon, also. So, as usual, please review! They are so very much appreciated, and I usually don't write without any reviews. And point out any mistakes you see—typos and I don't get along, and sometimes, correct grammar escapes me (and my betas.) Thank you very much in advance!


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